von Anhalt ... BUT not even the adoption is valid to german law. In Germany to adopt an adult is VERY difficult and needs to go to court, where it will be decided, if there is a valid reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nascarlucy

I didn't know that the Swiss demanded death certificates to get into those accounts of those who had died.

This is not univerally true - as such.

A Bank cannot just give money out to s/o passing by and saying "I'm the heir of Romanov so please give me every asset". Also that could lead to a lot of difficulties - there where (tomany) cases, where money wasn't payed to heir - but one should also see, that there is allways the difficulty to find out, who is the heir - and are there not also other heirs who could lay a claim to that account...

These were average, sorry to say Jews, who had died in gas chambers. The German's did notr issue death certifficates. Some of the, to day, deny the existence of such things. They were not Romanovs. There were no "death certificates". There have been many documentaries on this. My husband who used to say his heritage was Swiss, said to me one day after one of these documemntaries, I guess being German now is better. It was grand theft on a battered people.

The last question is a mystery - to retain jewels in reduced circumstances is difficult. They probably live very average lives in general, if they are not working and want to hold onto their jewels.

There's a large non-cash economy in Russia, at least, an economy of favors given and received, and most people retain a family apartment from Soviet days (at least). Perhaps the Russian royals are still given favors by those who support them, I wouldn't be at all surprised.

OK, further clarification- yes, Carol probably ran off with most of the Royal Family's wealth, but Michael was still King for 8 years, with multiple palaces, a salary from the government, and plenty of connections with the country's elite. Surely he could have managed to accumulate some cash in those 8 years, and stored some away in safety?

(King Michael probably doesn't want or need sympathy but I wouldn't wish what he's gone through on my worst enemy- he has real strength of character to endure what he's gone through.)

ETA: re: titles- aren't Presidents and Governors still referred to as such after their term ends?

Well Michael was still quite young when he took the throne for the 2nd time, and there was a little event called WW2 going on at that time so not much chance to gain a large personal fortune and sock it safely away in Switzerland. His father by and large took everything of value away with him, and then he and his wife squandered it. There was nothing left when she died.
Since going into exile Michael worked for a living, and probably enjoyed it. The family were not rich. It is said his daughters school fees were paid for by wealthy supporters. There may also have been some inheritances from his wifes family. Today of course his family have an officially recognized place in Roumania and have had properttied returned to them so they are probably much better off now.